Mourners gather for Bishop Dorsey's funeral at Mary Queen of the Universe shrine

Bishop Norbert Dorsey on Nov. 12, 2004. (File photo )

February 28, 2013|By Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel

Mourners filled the sanctuary Thursday for the funeral mass for retired Orlando Catholic Bishop Norbert Dorsey, who was remembered as a kind, gentle and down-to-earth man.

Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski and Orlando Bishop John Noonan joined priests, nuns, parishioners, parochial school children and well-wishers to fill to capacity the 2,000-seat Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe south of Orlando.

Dorsey, 83, died Thursday of cancer.

"In Norbert, there was something for everyone," eulogized former Archbishop of Miami John Favalora, who described Dorsey as a gentle shepherd of souls. "But over and above what Bishop Norbert meant to all of us, here was a man of the cross."

Favalora said Dorsey steadfastly believed in the message of the cross — the everlasting life and salvation that came from Jesus' resurrection.

"Today, my dear friends, we come to commend this good man, this humble priest, back to the Lord," he said. "Lift high the cross, Norbert."

Dorsey was bishop of the Orlando Diocese from 1990 to 2004 when he retired at the mandatory age of 75. During his tenure as bishop, the diocese grew from 216,000 to 400,000 Catholics.

Dorsey's funeral took place in the basilica he dedicated in 1993 as a spiritual home-away-from home for vacationing Catholics, church officials said.

"It is very appropriate that the funeral mass is taking place here," said Father Paul Henry, rector of the basilica. "It is a place he has always had a passion for."

Henry said Dorsey liked to dine incognito as an ordinary guy known to the waitresses as "Lenny." Born Leonard James Dorsey, he didn't become Norbert until bestowed with the name as a priest in 1949.

Dorsey delighted in telling the story of when a waitress saw him on television, dressed in his vestments, and exclaimed, "Oh my God, Lenny's a bishop," Henry said.

Those who knew him well, and those who only knew him as the head of the Orlando Diocese, described Dorsey as a man defined by his kindness and compassion.

"He was very pastoral, a very caring person," said Chris Halpern, of Longwood, who met Dorsey a couple of times. "I felt a tremendous warmth."

That sentiment was echoed by Father Miguel Gonzalez, who was ordained by Dorsey in 1998.

"He was firm in his way, but always in a gentle manner that was respectful of people," said Gonzalez, pastor of St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Orlando.

The basilica was filled for Dorsey's funeral, including 10 rows reserved for Catholic students and their teachers.

"I call him the education bishop because he built six schools," said Kathleen Kiley, principal of St. Andrew Catholic School in Pine Hills.

Family members came from Chicago and Massachusetts for the funeral mass.

"He was always known to be a very kind and gentle person," said Paul Judy, a family member from Chicago.

Judy said Dorsey was known in the family for his humor, commitment to family and a fondness for Manhattans.

Dorsey's niece, Gemma Dorsey from Boston, used her uncle's favorite greeting from the pulpit — "all holy and beautiful people" — to address the crowd. But to her, Bishop Dorsey would always be Uncle Lenny.

"Uncle Lenny," she said, "your kind and gentle spirit was a blessing to all who knew you."

Dorsey's burial will be today at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Springfield, Mass., his place of birth.